劍問蒼天 - 第223章 重逢 - 翰墨軒

Zhou Yixuan looked at the road not far ahead, then glanced back at the mortuary, long since out of sight, and only then let out a breath and stopped. "What do you know? This time we truly had great fortune and a great destiny—we escaped death. If we still had no sense and didn't put some distance between us and that mortuary, wouldn't we just be asking for trouble?"

Xiaowan paused and ran through the past few days in that mortuary in her mind, especially when she thought of that mysterious demon—and indeed her heart still quailed. She shook her head. "To think that right at the foot of Canglan Mountain there could be such a powerful demon of the crooked path."

Zhou Yixuan suddenly gave a cold laugh. "If it weren't at the foot of Canglan Mountain, you wouldn't be seeing it at all!"

Xiaowan and the Wild Wolf Daoist, standing to one side, both started. "What?"

Zhou Yixuan knitted his brows, but seemed to recall something and realized he had let slip too much. He glanced to either side, waved his hand, and said, "All right, let's get out of here quickly. Get to the city early—once we're among crowds, there's nothing to fear."

Xiaowan looked at Zhou Yixuan with some puzzlement, but he paid her no mind and strode on ahead. She hurried a few steps to his side and was about to press him when Zhou Yixuan coughed, looked up at the sky, and said, "Xiaowan, look—isn't the night fine tonight..."

Xiaowan spat at him. "On a night like this—black moon, high wind, and a chill of ghosts everywhere—you still dare call the night fine?"

Zhou Yixuan gave two dry laughs and quickened his pace a few more steps. Xiaowan watched her grandfather's back, her eyes full of suspicion, feeling that he was plainly holding something back.

As the three of them walked on, suddenly a rush of wind swept past behind them, and a dark figure came swiftly chasing up from the direction they had left.

Zhou Yixuan, Xiaowan, and the Wild Wolf Daoist all started in alarm, and the same thought rose in all their minds at once: could it be that in this short time, that demon has already caught up?

They turned to look—and were taken aback. The newcomer was dressed all in plain black as well, but it was not that mysterious, eerie demon wreathed in black qi; it was the mysterious black-clad man they had met not long ago—the Witch Demon.

The Witch Demon saw the three of them too, of course, but paid them no mind. He did not even slow as he swept past them, plainly eager to leave this place early as well. Yet just as he was about to pass, a girl's voice suddenly came from behind him: "Wait."

The Witch Demon started. His figure twisted in midair, and he halted and looked back—only to see that of the three, the two men wore looks of surprise, staring at the young girl standing between them, while the girl herself seemed to have frozen as well, for the moment saying nothing.

The Witch Demon looked Xiaowan up and down. "Miss, was it you who called me?"

Xiaowan hesitated. "Yes."

The Witch Demon said, "Is there something you want?"

Xiaowan choked on her words. She had called out to this black-clad man on sudden impulse, for no other reason than that some instinct told her his clothes were too much like those of her mysterious master, whom she had met only twice. Had the auras of the two not been so utterly different—the Witch Demon lacking that unique, grim ghost-qi of Mr. Gui—she would almost have blurted out the word "Master."

But now that the Witch Demon had asked, Xiaowan for a moment did not know where to begin. After a good pause she asked, with some awkwardness, "This... may I ask, sir, do you happen to know another person who dresses exactly as you do?"

The Witch Demon was taken aback. He shook his head. "I don't."

Xiaowan frowned and was about to speak again, but Zhou Yixuan beside her gave her a hard tug, pulling her behind him. He smiled at the black-clad Witch Demon and said, "Sir, the girl is young and doesn't know better. Pay her no mind."